Current microscopy systems used for observing biological samples are generally based on a static and massive microscope body. Current microscope designs include complex connections to optical units such as an objective turret, an illumination unit, filter wheels, shutters, a camera, internal optics and other units. To enable the scanning of a given sample, devices to enable motion of the sample holder in the X, Y and Z directions are added to the microscope body, often being provided by vendors other than the microscope manufacturer. Such microscope systems are large, heavy and cumbersome, and include multiple control interfaces making operation and maintenance complex and expensive. During the imaging process of these microscopic systems, the sample is moved to capture images at different locations along the sample, while the optics units are static. Since, in order to cover a large number of image locations in a minimum of time, the sample holder may need to be subjected to motion with high levels of acceleration, this mode of operation may adversely affect the accuracy and quality of the acquired images, and may have critical impact in live cell experiments. Sample motion in biological experiments can affect its results and provide incorrect interpretation of these results.
Furthermore, in conventional microscopy systems used for biological applications, the scanning of a large area with multiple samples is a time-consuming task, and many of the images obtained may contain little or no useful data. In current microscopy systems used for high-content screening, the field of view imaged by the system optics is on the order of 100-500 by 100-500 microns, depending on the optics magnification used. The overall area that can be imaged in a standard sample-holding microplate is on the order of 7000 square millimeters. The number of images that can be obtained from a single microplate therefore numbers in the hundreds of thousands; attempting to obtain all those images within an acceptable time frame is not feasible. A typical method for dealing with this is to do some sort of statistical sampling of the microplate area. However, in any such method, most of the area is not sampled and many of the images obtained contain non-useful data.